Tag Archives: Fantasy

The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book 3)

Canadian Literature 4 Comments

Synopsis: The conclusion of the epic battle against the darkness. Review: I’m sorry to announce to everyone who has been excited I’m reading Kay that I found The Darkest Road to be a slog… around page 275 I realized that I had nothing invested emotionally in any of the characters or their journeys. I just never really engaged with the story. That said, Kay is a beautiful writer and I will certainly be checking out Tigana and Last Light of the Sun, though not for…

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The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book 2)

Canadian Literature 6 Comments

Synopsis: Book 2 of the Fionavar Tapestry finds five Canadian students returning to an alternate universe where they continue to fight an epic battle against a demonic demigod and step further into their unique destinies. Review: As with any good second book in a trilogy, The Wandering Fire deepens the Fionavar mythology and heightens the stakes for all involved.

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The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book One)

Canadian Literature 14 Comments

Synopsis: Five Toronto college students are pulled into an alternate world where they discover their true destinies at the outset of a war that could affect all worlds, including their own. Review: Yep, another hard-to-synopsize epic fantasy book. The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay employs one of the standard fantasy templates–ordinary people drawn into an extraordinary world–making the book “execution dependent.” That means that Kay has to work twice as hard to make the story feel fresh and exciting.

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The Bone Doll’s Twin by Lynn Flewelling

American Literature

Synopsis: To fulfill an ancient prophecy, dark magic is woven around a baby girl so that she will appear to be a boy, but the cost is the life and soul of her twin brother whose ghost now violently haunts the castle. Review: For some reason I thought The Bone Doll’s Twin was a one-off, so towards the end I got impatient when I realized that the story wasn’t going to wrap up anytime soon. I wasn’t in the mood to commit to a new…

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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

American Literature 3 Comments

Synopsis: A legendary folk hero tells the first part of his life story, encompassing his early years as a vagabond and his time spent at University studying alchemy and magic. Review: It’s not for nothing that The Name of the Wind has been touted as a great fantasy debut. It absolutely is. I am leery of beginning fantasy series that have not been concluded, but my brother was so enthusiastic about this one that I had to check it out. Patrick Rothfuss’s writing has a…

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Auralia’s Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet

American Literature 12 Comments

Synopsis: In a world where color has been banished, a young woman defies the king with a cloak woven from all the hues of nature, throwing the fabric of society into chaos and turmoil. Review: I became a fan of Jeffrey Overstreet after reading his book on film, Through a Screen Darkly, and subsequently become a reader of his blog, Looking Closer. Auralia’s Colors is the first in a proposed series of four, to which I say, “Bring it.”

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Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley

Scottish Literature 5 Comments

I tried really, really hard to finish this book but halfway through it got deemed “life’s too short.” Winterbirth is epic fantasy of the George RR Martin variety–lots of loyalty oaths, warring kinsmen, and creeping winter. But the emphasis is on war, not on character adventure, and I find it hard to get into war stories under the best of circumstances.

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The Red Queen’s Daughter by Jacqueline Kolosov

American Literature 6 Comments

Synopsis: The orphaned daughter of Henry VII’s widow Katherine Parr finds herself at court, ostensibly as a lady-in-waiting but in reality to serve Queen Elizabeth as a white magician. Review: The Red Queen’s Daughter is one of the last of the galleys I picked up at Book Expo this year. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction but I was intrigued by the magical aspect to the story. The book has a good balance of historical detail (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived–anybody remember…

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The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle

American Literature 3 Comments

Synopsis: The unicorns have all disappeared from the world, save one, who cannot accept that she is the last. Review: I know I said no fantasy for a while, but The Last Unicorn is a children’s books so it doesn’t count. I have long been a fan of the Rankin/Bass animated movie, but never read the book. When it showed up from BookMooch, I couldn’t wait any longer.

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